theft of pallet of Doug Thompson tools

This really sucks, and Doug is such a good .....

JamieDonaldson

...guy and supporter of turners. I bet that was a majority of his stock needed for the AAW Symposium as well as other events he attends.

Keep this going.  I want that guy busted.

I share both Jamie's and John's comments

GaryG in MD

I cannot think of anyone who has been more kind, generous, and selfless in supporting woodturning clubs and individuals in need. This is intolerable. There are special places in the nether region for people who would do such a thing. May that become a reality.

The user community is very small. I don't see how the perp can sell this lot, unless they ship it to China, which, I suppose, could happen. Let's hope we can reverse this by spreading the word. If everyone here tells everyone they know in every club they belong to, it should be impossible to sell this material in this country. Let's "make it so". Keep your eyes open on eBay and Craig's list, etc. I already checked the former today. ...GG

spread the word

John K Jordan

There are probably a lot more woodturners out there than those who read forums. Maybe someone who knows people in the AAW could see if they would be willing to send out a note to all the chapter clubs and even an email to the AAW membership.

We can post this to other forums we visit. (blasphemy?!) I posted on SMC, can someone send to others? The info would best be accompanied by photos of Thompson tools so people who don't use them might have a chance of recognizing them. I didn't do this, but I did take a stab at describing some. Does this make sense? Any significant omissions or errors?

"Those of us who use his tools now can probably recognize them on sight. If you are not familiar with his tools, they are black 10V tools, the construction and look quite distinctive compared to others, for example the way the round rod is a bit larger in diameter than the nominal gouge size and machined down slightly for a couple of inches on the end that goes into a handle. The skews are radiused on one edge and flat on the long edge. The roughing gouge is machined from 5/8" round bar with a deep U flute with straight upper sides. Bowl gouges are a "V" shape. Spindle gouges are in three flute depths, one quite shallow. All tools are black where not sharpened."

Maybe Doug will offer a reward, say $xxx worth of tools for info leading to the arrest and conviction, etc, etc.

JKJ

Re: spread the word

mikeee12345

Doug should be pressing charges unless the stolen tools are returned. You don't just fire someone that steals a large amount of inventory and let them walk away, if the police are too lazy to do their job he could hire a private investigator for a day or two and find out where he stores his stolen goods at.

I wondered about that too...

Re: I wondered about that too...

Bill Blasic

It is one thing to know who did it and another to have exact proof. This guy was a club member and an acquaintance and thought to be a good guy at one time. Believe me he did it, we know he did it and we're watching every day where they may pop up. With more woodturners watching?

I thought...

John K Jordan

...not much could be done without proof. I'm guessing the authorities need a witness, surveillance video, physical evidence, or some tools recovered in the possession of or traceable to a suspect, perhaps through a communications or money trail. Without some break the thief may never be caught. And who knows, the current suspect may actually be innocent in spite of history or appearances.

Of course, I'm no investigator, have never watched a crime show, and haven't even stayed in a Holiday Inn Express lately.

In hindsight a GPS tracker hidden under the palette might have been useful. Or access to military satellite photos that happened to catch a clue at the moment of the dirty deed. Or while dreaming, think how life would change for everyone if we had a time viewer from a sci-fi story and could crank it back and watch any event in the past - could solve any case (but yikes, think of the privacy issues!)

JKJ

Re: theft of pallet of Doug Thompson tools

Philip Duffy

We should all be extra vigilant and catch this thief! Doug should not be abused by someone lower than a snake. P.

Re: theft of pallet of Doug Thompson tools

mikeee12345

I would check with the regional pawn shops and give them your number to call you if they see any of the tools come through their door. If you have a suspect with a garage it is easy to inspect what they have inside a locked garage with a small scope video camera. A good private investigator can knock on a persons door with a city shirt and hard hat on and get into the house to read the water meter and make a quick visual inspection of the basement to see if there are any packages that look suspect.

Re: theft of pallet of Doug Thompson tools

John Jordan

Unless this is a second theft, it happened several years ago- its the same story. Doug has been waiting for tools to show somewhere one day.

I have not talked to Doug, but would find out before repeating the story.

John

Re: theft of pallet of Doug Thompson tools

Bill Blasic

John happened about a year ago originally but then he came back again and stole more this February. The shop is now super secure.

Re: theft of pallet of Doug Thompson tools

John Jordan

Holy crap. No wonder he hasn't sent me any gouges. A$$holes.

John

Re: theft of pallet of Doug Thompson tools

Joe Fleming

Over on WOW, whoever posted this story declined to name names because of a lack of solid "proof". Having said that, could we possibly get a location or region from which we should avoid buying these tools? Just making up a location, if the culprit lives in "Iowa City, Idaho County, Ohio", then we could apply extra scrutiny to a purchase from that source.

Honestly, we should only buy our Thompson tools directly from Doug or his name-brand dealer (like John Jordan and others).

Joe

Re: theft of pallet of Doug Thompson tools

Bill Blasic

Cleveland OH area. In this day and age they could be sold anywhere.